METABOLISM, THE CITY OF THE FUTURE:

Metabolism, the City of the Future
press release vol.2
6 JULY, 2011
METABOLISM, THE CITY OF THE FUTURE:
Dreams and Visions of Reconstruction in Postwar and Present-Day Japan
17 September (SAT) , 2011– 15 January (sun), 2012 MORI ART MUSEUM (roppongi hills mori tower 53f)
Mori Art Museum to Hold World’s First Exhibition of “Metabolism,”
a Representative Movement in Japanese Modern Architecture History
The Mori Art Museum presents “Metabolism, the City of the Future” from Saturday, 17 September, 2011
to Sunday, 15 January, 2012. Metabolism, which sprang up in the 1960s, remains the most widely known
modern architecture movement to have emerged from Japan. As its biological name suggests, the Metabolism
movement contends that buildings and cities should be designed in the same organic way that the material
substance of a natural organism propagates —deftly adapting to its environment by changing its form in rapid
succession. Representative plans include a floating island city that crosses across Tokyo Bay, and a city of tall
buildings connected by corridors suspended in the sky.
The Metabolism movement was developed during the period of reconstruction in which war-torn Japan
worked to move toward its period of rapid economic growth in the wake of World War II. The architects
involved engaged in heated debates over the ideal city, and planned a great deal of experimental architecture
and cities based on ideas of lifestyles and communities for a new era. Precisely as Japan is confronting great
difficulties today, Metabolism is packed with valuable hints for architectural and urban development. This is
the first exhibition in the world to provide such a comprehensive overview of the movement, and it offers the
opportunity to reevaluate the architecture and cities of the future.
Tange Kenzo and his research lab in Tokyo University　A Plan for Tokyo 1960 1961　Photo: Kawasumi Akio　Photo courtesy: TANGE ASSOCIATES
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Press Contact Details: Mr. Watanabe, Ms.Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Okazaki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum
Tel: 03-6406-6111 Fax: 03-6406-9351 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.mori.art.museum
Metabolism, the City of the Future
press release vol.2
6 JULY, 2011
Main Features
■
Clarification of “Metabolism,”
an architecture movement that emerged from Japan
This exhibition is the first in the world to give the full picture of the ideas and the movement of Metabolism, giving a comprehensive
elucidation introducing the works of representative Japanese architects and designers, including Tange Kenzo, who greatly influenced the
ideas of Metabolism, and others central to the movement such as Kurokawa Kisho, Kikutake Kiyonori, Maki Fumihiko, Isozaki Arata, Ekuan
Kenji, and Awazu Kiyoshi.
■
reconstruction plans made by Metabolism architects a half century ago
Particularly now, some fifty years on, the exhibition introduces for reflection and reappraisal the reconstruction projects created through
Metabolism, including Tange Kenzo’s Hiroshima Peace Center , famous as a postwar reconstruction masterpiece leading to the preservation
of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Kurokawa Kisho ’ s Agricultural City Plan , proposed as a disaster area reconstruction plan in the wake of
Typhoon Vera, and the Master Plan for Reconstruction of Skopie City Center (Macedonia) earthquake disaster reconstruction plan based
on Tange Kenzo’s plan and implemented abroad by Isozaki Arata and other architects.
■
Never-before-seen archive film footage, rare models and materials
Comprising 500 or more exhibits, consisting of architectural models and drawings, sketches, photos, and archival films, some 80 projects
will be exhibited. Owned by architects and other related people rather than museums, many of these works are rare materials seldom
viewed by the public and exhibited for the first time in Japan.
■
Featuring the actual pioneer capsule architecture
The architects of Metabolism collected residential functions in capsules, and in attaching and removing them, tried to design an
architecture that meets the needs of the day by updating itself. One of the few architectural works that actually incorporates these ideas
is the Nakagin Capsule Tower Building . These masterpiece capsule residences made the name Kurokawa Kisho known throughout the
world, and one of them is refurbished and showcased by Mori Art Museum at Roppongi Hills.
■
The city of the future envisioned by the architects of Metabolism reproduced as cg images
Produced especially for this exhibition, CG images reproduce about six future city plans that could only be expressed in drawings and
models in the 1960s, including A Plan for Tokyo 1960 by Tange Kenzo and others— which is known for its revolutionary ideas for the
design of a new Tokyo on Tokyo Bay—will be exhibited.
■
art, design, and music from the same period as the City of the Future/Osaka Expo ‘70
Osaka Expo ’ 70 brought into focus the entire wisdom of the architects of Metabolism, and this wisdom has been handed down even to
the present day. Along with introducing the Osaka Expo ’ 70 as the City of the Future from an urban/architectural perspective, the art,
design, and music of the same period is showcased—beginning with Isozaki Arata, who produced the environment of the Festival Plaza, as
well as Yamaguchi Katsuhiro, Ichiyanagi Toshi, Tomatsu Shomei, and Awazu Kiyoshi.
■
Announcing the Metabolism Lounge
The Metabolism Lounge is a place in the exhibition for contemplating different aspects of future urban design through exhibitions of
the latest research data and urban projects including the latest emergency disaster relief capsules and environmental symbiosis, books on
Metabolism, archive films of past lectures, and more.
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Press Contact Details: Mr. Watanabe, Ms.Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Okazaki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum
Tel: 03-6406-6111 Fax: 03-6406-9351 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.mori.art.museum
Metabolism, the City of the Future
press release vol.2
6 JULY, 2011
Organizers: Mori Art Museum, UIA2011TOKYO, Nikkei Inc.
Advisory Committee: Isozaki Arata, Ekuan Kenji, Kawazoe Noboru, Kikutake Kiyonori, Fujimori Terunobu, Maki Fumihiko, Yatsuka Hajime
Curated by: Mori Art Museum, Collegium Metabolism (representative: Yatsuka Hajime, Asada Mari, Imamura Souhei, Ohta Kayoko, Kaneko Yusuke,
Kikuchi Makoto, Seng Kuan, Toda Jo, Toyokawa Saikaku, Nango Yoshikazu, Hino Naohiko, Matsushita Kiwa, Mizutani Akihiro, Yamana Yoshiyuki)
Cooperation: Kurokawa Kako, Kurokawa Mikio, Tange Takako, Tange Paul Noritaka, Otaka Architect & Associates, Kisho Kurokawa Architect &
Associates, Tange Associates, Digital Hollywood university, Graduate school, Commemorative organization for the Japan World Exposition '70,
Awazu Design Co., Ltd.
In Association with: The Japan Institute of Architects, The City Planning Institute of Japan, Citiy Planning Association of Japan
Venue: Mori Art Museum 53F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Japan
Open Hours: 10:00 –22:00 ｜ Tue: 10:00 –17:00 ｜ *Admission until 30 minutes before closing. *Open everyday.
Admission: Adult: ¥1,500 University / Highschool student: ¥1,000 / Child (4 years to Junior Highschool student): ¥500 *All prices include tax.
*Ticket also valid for “MAM Project 015: TSANG KINWAH” and Tokyo City View observation deck (excludes Sky Deck).
*Additional entrance fee to the Sky Deck is required: ¥300
Tel: 03-5777-8600 (Hello Dial) Website: www.mori.art.museum
Exhibition Outline
Metabolism which sprang up in the 1960s remains the most widely known modern architecture movement
to have emerged from Japan. As its biological name suggests, the Metabolism movement contends that
buildings and cities should be designed in the same organic way that life grows and changes by repeating
metabolism.
At the World Design Conference of 1960, the Metabolism group – formed by architecture critic
Kawazoe Noboru, architects Otaka Masato, Maki Fumihiko, Kikutake Kiyonori and Kurokawa Kisho, designers
Awazu Kiyoshi, Ekuan Kenji, and others who had come under the influence of the architect Tange Kenzo –
presented a manifesto entitled, “Metabolism 1960: Proposals for a New Urbanism.” The movement went
on to involve numerous other architects such as Isozaki Arata and Otani Sachio throughout Japan’ s period of
rapid economic growth, and ultimately came to define this key moment in the country’ s modern architectural
history. Fifty years on, there is now increasing momentum for a reappraisal of the Metabolists’ grand visions
of future cities, as an important pioneering example in assessing today’s cities.
This is the first exhibition in the world to provide such a comprehensive overview of the Metabolism. It
highlights not only leading architectural and urban projects but also Japan’ s postwar reconstruction urban
planning represented by Hiroshima Peace Center which led up to Metabolism, art and design from that
period are also introduced, as well as Osaka Expo ’ 70 – which in many ways was the culmination of the
movement – and later international projects. The exhibition also represents an important opportunity to
collect and archive valuable architectural documents and records, as many others have been lost in recent
years. The 500 or more exhibits from about 80 projects include never-before-seen models, sketches, and
plans owned by architects and other related people, archive film footage rarely viewed by the public, and CG
images of future cities produced for this exhibition.
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Press Contact Details: Mr. Watanabe, Ms.Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Okazaki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum
Tel: 03-6406-6111 Fax: 03-6406-9351 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.mori.art.museum
Metabolism, the City of the Future
press release vol.2
6 JULY, 2011
Section 1: Birth of Metabolism
Metabolism projects show the strong influence of Tange
Kenzo, who always incorporated his visions of the city even in
simple architecture. This section traces the changes in Japan ’ s
wartime and postwar urban design, focusing on Tange ’ s
Hiroshima projects as the beginning of postwar architectural
and urban design, and on the visions of future cities given
in the manifesto “ Metabolism 1960: Proposals for a New
Urbanism.”
Section 2: Era of Metabolism
Metabolism saw not just the incomplete conceptualization of
future cities but also the realization of numerous experimental
buildings. This section introduces wide range of activities from
urban concepts to public buildings and housing, including:
A Plan for Tokyo, 1960 by Tange Kenzo, Kurokawa Kisho,
Isozaki Arata, and others, known for its revolutionary ideas
for the design of a new Tokyo on Tokyo Bay; the Nakagin
Capsule Tower Building by Kurokawa Kisho, which proposed a
futuristic lifestyle of living in capsules that came to epitomize
the Metabolism movement; and the South Pole Showa Base
by Asada Takashi and others, the origin of prefab housing,
and an attempt to industrialize architecture and develop selfbuilding.
Tange Kenzo　Hiroshima Peace Center 1955
Hiroshima, Japan　Photo: Ishimoto Yasuhiro
Kurokawa Kisyo　Nakagin Capsule Tower Building 1972
Tokyo, Japan　Photo: Ohashi Tomio
Section 3: From Space to Environment
The Japan World Exposition held in 1970 — commonly
known as Osaka Expo ’ 70 — was a turning point in Japan ’ s
transition to a consumer and information society. Prior to
the Expo, interaction was stimulated among different fields
of art, centered on the concept of “ environment. ” This
section introduces Osaka Expo ’ 70—centering on the Great
Roof Building and the Festival Plaza — from an urban and
architectural perspective, featuring activities that transcended
the media of the day, such as the prime example found in
the works of Yamaguchi Katsuhiro,Ichiyanagi Toshi, Tomatsu
Shomei, Awazu Kiyoshi and others, showcased at “ From
Space to Environment” in 1966. Expo ’ 70 brought into focus
the entire wisdom of the Metabolism movement and is still
thought of today as the epitome of futuristic cities.
Japan World Exposition, Festival plaza 1970
Photo: Shinkenchiku-sha
Section 4: Global Metabolism
Tange Kenzo and architects under his influence extended
their appeal overseas after Expo ’ 70. Although most of
their plans remain uncompleted, there is considered to be
a need to review and reappraise them as the precursors to
the current rapid development of Asian cities. This section
showcases large, city scale projects, such as Tange ’ s Master
Plan for Reconstruction of Skopje City Center following the
earthquake in the Macedonian capital, and Maki Fumihiko’ s
Republic Polytechnic Singaporean university campus plans.
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Maki Fumihiko　Republic Polytechnic 2007
Singapore　©Maki and Associates
Press Contact Details: Mr. Watanabe, Ms.Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Okazaki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum
Tel: 03-6406-6111 Fax: 03-6406-9351 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.mori.art.museum
Metabolism, the City of the Future
Press images are available on our website.
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6 JULY, 2011
www.mori.art.museum
Kikutake Kiyonori
Marine City 1963
1963
Kikutake Kiyonori
ECO POLIS
early 1990s
Kikutake Kiyonori
Hotel Tokoen
1964
Tottori, Japan
Photo: Shinkenchiku-sha
Tange Kenzo
Yamanashi Culture Hall
1966
Yamanashi, Japan
Photo: Shinkenchiku-sha
Kikutake Kiyonori
Miyakonojo Civic Center
1966
Miyazaki, Japan
press release
press release vol.2
Restorative Investigation
of a Plan for Tokyo-1960
2008
CG: [email protected]
Press Contact Details: Mr. Watanabe, Ms.Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Okazaki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum
Tel: 03-6406-6111 Fax: 03-6406-9351 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.mori.art.museum